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Kitchen of the Week: An Architecture Firm’s Own DIY Kitchen in Williamsburg, Ikea Hacks Included

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Kitchen ShelvingIssue 6 — Jetsetter

Kitchen of the Week: An Architecture Firm’s Own DIY Kitchen in Williamsburg, Ikea Hacks Included

February 7, 2019

It’s been nearly a year since Julie stopped into an event in the East Williamsburg headquarters of Fabr Studio and, after poking around the premises, promptly dubbed them “Brooklyn’s most inventive, resourceful, economy-minded, under-the-radar architecture firm.” (She later returned with photographer Matthew Williams and his camera to capture the studio, and its garden, in full.) Since then, we’ve been seeing Fabr Studio’s work pop up everywhere, solidifying Julie’s initial hunch: this is the firm to watch.

Today we’re revisiting their DIY, industrial/tropical studio kitchen, with, said one of the principals, “a quality of light unusual for New York City.” Take a closer look.

Photography by Matthew Williams for Remodelista.

the principals of the firm themselves—thom dalmas, bretaigne walliser, a 14
Above: The principals of the firm themselves—Thom Dalmas, Bretaigne Walliser, and Eli Fernald—slowly overhauled the interiors of an industrial building in East Williamsburg (and they’re still at work, Julie notes). Now, the studio’s kitchen has raked cement walls on three sides and an ad-hoc curtain on the other.

The team built out the kitchen with stainless steel tables, the sort from restaurant supply stores, on either side of a salvaged range; crates and a vintage set of drawers keep essentials corralled on the lower shelves.

The long center dining table was another DIY: two long Ikea butcher block counters propped up on two-by-fours. The Stendig cane chairs were an eBay find.

countertop and shelf in fabr studio kitchen in brooklyn, photo by matthew willi 15
countertop and shelf in fabr studio kitchen in brooklyn, photo by matthew willi 16

Above: Above the metal counters, another ingenious hack: shelf brackets made of sawed-off Ikea Frosta legs, which now hold houseplants and cutting boards.

a look alike shaker peg rail along one wall is actually a length of cedar fitte 17
Above: A look-alike Shaker peg rail along one wall is actually a length of cedar fitted with hardware store pegs. Note the intentionally imperfect rake marks on the wall.
adjacent to the sink, a series of shelves hold mix and match thrifted glassware 18
Above: Adjacent to the sink, a series of shelves hold mix-and-match thrifted glassware (and hide a wall-mounted clock).
the sink is another example of clever upcyling: a vintage laundry sink from 19
Above: The sink is another example of clever upcyling: a vintage laundry sink from Big Reuse in Brooklyn is dressed in a sink curtain that Bretaigne sewed from “a piece of muslin that was lying around.” And a high-low touch: a slab of marble, left over from a kitchen Fabr worked on, serves as oversized backsplash.

(Of note: sink skirts are making a comeback. See more examples in Sink Skirt Revival: 16 Fresh Examples of a New Old Trend.)

below the short and long exposed pipe faucets, a sink shelf is actually a lengt 20
Above: Below the short and long exposed-pipe faucets, a sink shelf is actually a length of leftover pine flooring, reused.

N.B.: For more of a look around (and more clever DIY ideas), see A Tree Grows in Brooklyn: Fabr Studio in East Williamsburg and Garden of Eden: The Most Beautiful Spot in Brooklyn Happens to Be in an Industrial Park (Seriously).

And, more DIY kitchens from the archives:

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